The Midnight Group: F.A.Bs of LEAVING The EU

F.A.Bs of LEAVING The EU

Features, Advantages & Benefits
of LEAVING The EU

If we were governed by our own elected parliament rather than the EU elite....

...There would be more democracy

We have had 30,000+ EU laws imposed upon us.

A majority of the laws we obey are now made in Brussels and this percentage will increase once the Lisbon Treaty kicks in.

The majority of EU laws are not even discussed or voted on in our parliament as there is not enough time to consider them all.

In any case, laws made in Brussels are supreme and so the elected parliaments of the member countries cannot block or repeal them.

Britain has only 8.4% of the votes votes in the main EU body, the Council of Ministers, that votes - in secret - on new laws. In the less important European Parliament, we have just under 10% of the votes.

This means that politicians and civil servants from other EU countries, people not accountable to the British electorate, are making laws that we must obey and cannot change. Yet, we have not consented in referendums to hand over control over important areas of our lives to these officials. In the European Commission, which has the monopoly right to propose new laws, Baroness Ashton is the UK appointee. However, she cannot act as a representative of the UK government and people. She has taken an oath of allegiance to make decisions in the interests of the EU.

If, like Switzerland, Britain was to be politically independent of the EU, while continuing to trade with the other countries of Europe, then we could decide which of the 30,000 laws we wanted to keep, modify or get rid off.

At the heart of democracy is the right of voters to change their minds and to kick out the government of the day. As things stand, we cannot vote out of power the key EU institutions that increasingly dominate us and we cannot change EU laws we do not like. So, for example, the EU directives responsible for breaking up our railway system into different and often malfunctioning parts is set in stone regardless of what British voters want or do not want.

The same goes for the EU rules responsible for privatising the profitable bits of the Royal Mail. Nor can we reverse the EU Data Retention Directive which requires companies to keep our phone and email records and which allows state agencies to find out what we have been accessing on the internet.

...We would be more economically prosperous

For a start, leaving the EU would mean we would not have to hand over £18 billion a year gross, or £50 million every day, to the fraud-ridden budget in Brussels which their own auditors have refused to pass the accounts of for 15 years.

At a time when because of the UK's enormous budget deficit, and at a time when public services are being cut back and taxes increased, it is madness for us to be handing over ever larger sums of money to the EU. In 2010-11, Britain's net contribution to the EU budget, which amounts to £7.6billion, budget has increased by 60% alone from the previous year. Despite the cut backs we are facing now, the European Commission is demanding a pay increase for its members and bigger budget contributions.

In addition to having to hand over large sums of UK taxpayers' money, EU membership involves having to impose directives and regulations made centrally in Brussels. These laws are imposed on 100% of UK firms and public sector bodies, yet only 10% of what is produced in Britain is sold to the European Single Market. This accounts for approximately half of our total exports. A rising proportion of what we produce domestically is going to the economically faster growing World outside the EU.

A democratic, independent Britain would be able to determine the precise rules our businesses must operate according to, in line with the wishes of the electorate. At present, our economy and public services are subject to crude, inflexible one-size-fits-all rules devised by officials not accountable to us. This is not a recipe for job creation and the efficient delivery of services.

It is especially insane to allow our economy controlled by the undemocratic when it is quite possible for us to trade with the European Single Market from outside the EU, like Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. (Need to find better quote) Blair, Kinnock quotes.

The central reality we must appreciate is that Europe is a declining part of the World: At present it accounts for 18% of World GDP. This is expected to go down to 10% by 2050. "Eurostats, European Commission 2002" By then there will be 27 million fewer workers and 30-40 million more pensioners in the EU. "World Population Prospectus, United Nations, 2004"

Britain therefore needs to abandon its 'little European' mentality and adopt a more internationalist approach based upon trading and politically co-operating with countries right across the World, not just in Europe. Britain is ideally suited to do this because of the spread of the English language, our historic ties to India, the countries of the West Indies, Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and the numerous other members of the Commonwealth.

...We would enjoy more civil liberties

It is not only the EU which has passed authoritarian measures, such as the Data retention Directive, which violate our civil liberties. Both Tory and Labour governments have introduced illiberal laws in recent years.

The difference, however, is that in those policy areas where the ultimate say still rests with the Westminster parliament, it is possible to challenge and change whatever it is our government is planning to do. So, New Labour's plans to introduce identity cards were blocked by mass campaigning and the result of the last general election.

However, in those areas where the EU has taken control and made law, it is not possible for the British people and their elected representatives to stop laws that restrict our freedom.

The passing of the Lisbon treaty is enabling the EU to acclerate its project of creating a single criminal justice system directed from Brussels. To this end, a European Public Prosecutor will be appointed. It now has its own police force, Europol. Its officers, disturbingly, immune from prosecution. [The Europol Convention, article 41, paragraph 1]. The treaty gives the EU the right to extend the "structure, operation, field of action and tasks.

To this end, the EU elite is also establishing a total surveillance system. The Data Retention Directive obliges internet service providers and phone companies to keep records that state agencies can access regarding who we are in communication with and what we are downloading. The commission has set up and funded a programme designed to develop a system of automated surveillance monitors that will identify 'abnormal behaviour'.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01594 - 528 337

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com
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